This past weekend was the third race of the Chainbuster Series, which is a local Southeastern endurance mountainbike race series at which I am concentrating on the Solo 6 hour category. The event was held at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder which is a fantastic venue because of the fast, rolling course and close proximity to Atlanta. The 11 miles of the Yargo course is one of the fastest in the Southeast besides Jackrabbit in North Carolina. I registered at the venue the morning of the race and we were expecting hot weather throughout the day with a high chance of thunderstorms later in the day. Because I had been out West riding the trailbike for the past few weeks, it was going to be interesting getting back on the racebike again.

I had a center front row start and immediately went to the front to avoid any trouble. There was about one mile of pavement on the first lap to thin the field leading into the singletrack. After leading most of this, I let about 5 riders in front of me to avoid having to set pace or pull on the front (our average speed for the first lap was 16.1mph / 25.9kph so drafting was indeed a factor). After some crashes opened up gaps further back in the field, I took over second from the Aussie Jim MacPherson in the third lap. I settled into a good pace, keeping time in the pit box to a minimum and remaining smooth and fluid throughout the course. I had a good race but had no idea if I was in first or second because I had no support crew to give me updates. After my sixth lap (right at 5:00 hours in), I paused in the transition to have a look at standings and found out that the Unstoppable Mr. Josh Fix had been smashing it at the front the whole time and had gone through 10 minutes prior. Perhaps by some miracle I cold catch him with one lap to go. MacPherson was 5 minutes back. His previous lap had been :55. He came in 7 minutes later. Surely he could not do another in :52 now. He powered back out onto the course. Surely he would not make it. I sat down to wait an hour. I took off my shoes and helmet and gloves and sat down with a Coke. Was I being stupid and lazy? Did I not have to do a seventh lap to keep my placing? We would find out.

I had called his bluff. I was wrong.

He arrived back with 40 seconds to spare, yelling things in Aussie.
I had been knocked down a spot but couldn’t even feel bad. He told me he thought I was still out there in front of him. He was ecstatic. It was a good moment.

Racers who have been doing this for a long time will tell you to race every race like it’s the World Championships. Take nothing for granted. I had a lot left in the gas tank after the race. No racer could tell you they would not be mad at themselves in that situation. But you learn something every time.
Congrats to Jim and of course to Josh for your amazing rides. This was one I will remember.